Grab iron for railway cars



March 22, 1932. w, MURPHY 1,850,353

GRAB I'RON FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Aug. 27, 1930 a I E6910 Q 4 I lit? /3 F151? I (P-'1 b F F ,9 er I 270 y Patented Mar. 22, 1932 UNETE STATES PATET OFFICE WALTER P. MURPHY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T UNION METAL PRODUCTS COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE GRAB IRON FOR RAILWAY CARS ApplicatiOn filed August 27, 1930. Serial No. 478,099.

It is customary to provide ladderson the sides and ends of railway freight train cars to enable bralremen and others to get on top of the boX, furniture and similar cars and to get inside of gondola, hopper and similar cars. Such ladders may be formed of a plurality of handles separately attached to the car or may be formed oi a pair or" stiles having a plurality of rungs secured thereto. Similar handles or grab irons are applied on the opposite sides of the car from the ladders and also on the ends of the cars, and in the meaning of this invention, the term grab iron includes any of such devices whether separately attached to the car or whether they are attached as rungs to stiles to form ladders.

Brakemen and others are frequently required to mount the cars while they are in motion necessitating a hasty grab of the grab iron and it is not uncommon for a mans hand to slip and cause him to fall. This is particularly true in wet or icy weather, and even it a mans hand is protected by a glove, 3 the glove becomes wet and slippery. Furthermore, brakemen and others are required to climb the ladders while the car is in motion and it frequently happens that his foot slips on the tread or grab iron. It thus be comes imperative to provide some anti-skid or non-slip means on the tread of the grab iron.

Some railroads provide a riser or offset at each end of the tread to prevent a mans hand or foot from slipping entirely oil of the tread, which construction is shown in the drawings, but is not a part of this invention, but shows the necessity of some anti-slip provision.

The object of the invention is to provide a grab iron comprising a tread provided with means to prevent a mans hand or foot from slipping thereon.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows the preferred form of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on line 4.4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 shows a modified form.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged section on line 77 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 shows another modified form.

Fig. 9 is a plan view of Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged section on line 1010 of Fig. 8.

Fig. 1 shows a typical grab iron attached to a car part 2 comprising a tread 3, risers 4:, brackets 5 and bases 6. The tread is provided with longitudinal grooves 9 which are preferably spaced equal distances around the circumference of the bar.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show modified forms, wherein the grooves 10 are larger,while Figs. 8, 9 and 10 show the grooves 13 enlarged to the extent that the bar is fluted.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form of the invention, though it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that va rious modifications thereof, wi hin the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. A grab iron for a railway car comprising a fluted tread at spaced intervals around the entire tread.

2. A grab iron for a railway car comprising a tread having longitudinal grooves therein at spaced intervals around the entire tread.

3. A grab iron for a railway car comprising a tread formed of a circular bar having longitudinal grooves therein.

4. A grab iron for a railway car comprising a tread formed of a circular bar having longitudinal grooves therein at spaced inter vals around the entire circumference of the circular bar.

IVALTER P. MURPHY. 

